On Monday, January 20, the 55th World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos opens as Donald Trump is due to be sworn into the White House at 6 pm. Until Friday, almost 60 heads of state and government, 900 multinational CEOs, heads of international organizations including the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization, academics, members of NGOs and workers' organizations will converge to the Swiss mountains. But the most influential figure at the forum won't be there.
Trump's video address, planned for late on Thursday, promises to be the highlight. It will overshadow the speech on Tuesday by star guest Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, followed by Ding Xuexiang, the Chinese vice-premier. Or the speech to be given by Olaf Scholz, the German Chancellor, expected on stage, as well as Friedrich Merz, the favorite to succeed him in February.
A new world order is on its way, but to find out what kind of world this will be, the politico-economic elite is anxious to hear about the plans of the new occupant of the Oval Office. The 2025 version of "Trumponomics" promises to put the spotlight on tariffs and the fight against immigration. And nothing will please the incoming president more than this anticipation: although he attended Davos twice during his previous term, in 2018 and 2020, Trump has never hidden his contempt for the forum, where progressive elites debate social inequalities, ocean pollution and democracy threatened by algorithms.
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